Report by: Mappyman
Ohayocon
the first convention of the new millenium.
this convention was way more of a social party than actual convention. in a way it wasnt
really a con at all for me. more of a giant social weekend with a LOT of new friends and
new faces.
Friday morning my dad and I left for Cleveland to find out the RitzShereton hotel wasnt
the one the con was at. it was the airport shereton, which was smaller but still was a
decent size. the place was quite classy too. arriving there it was very early and quiet
all around...i knew the day must just be beginning for everyone. I called up the room and
Leo answered. they had gotten a room on the top floor (vip!) so I would be needing a
keycard to get in. she came down with jenny and I heaved my stuff up to the room.
registration was really easy to find right up on the second floor which you could see from
the lobby. Ollie (oroburos.net) was there and he pretty much informed me on what was
goingon that day and the other days. saw chuck going up the elevator which was really cool
since Chuck nearly couldnt make it to this con. Jenny was sharing the room with John
(Y2KJ/Jinnai), Jason, jason's girl, Cory (Cookie), and as the day slowly passed about 3
other people as well. it was kinda the room people dumped their stuff in while searching
for another place to crash ^_^.
Since things were going quite slow and no real panels had begun I checked out some of the
video rooms. FLCL was playoing in original japanese which was funny as always. I saw EK
there and she was telling me how she really wanted to get the soundtrack to it (which is
really cool, if you see it; get it!). By that time Christina had arrived and she, like
everyone else, dumped her stuff in Johns room until she could get her own. she was looking
for Kei who we thought was in the unopened dealers room but actually she hadnt arrived
yet. but since she had Staff access, she got to go in the dealers room anyway.
Dealers room was hadly impressive. same selection of miscellaneous goods. it was about the
size of two normal rooms. one room had all kinds of things; models, posters, cds,
plushies, and other stuff. the second room was mainly for the big selection of Cels,
t-shirts and the impressive Studio Ironcat booth. the con had the NO Bootleg policy so
that meant full price for Cds. they didnt have any DDR soundtracks so count me out. they
Did have some intial d goods though! Danny Hong (genrou.net) had gotten the one and only
Initial D Hachi Roku model for $20. the only ones left were the $70 Hachi Roku and
Keisuke's FD. I just had to get them before they sold out so I got the Hachi. another
booth also had some misc cels and surprisingly 2 intial d ones! one of Saori and one of
Saori and Itsuki. I HAD to get it! the second room collection of cels was really
impressive. the guy not only had a vast seledction of anime cels, but also 80s cartoons
and tv commercial cartoons. very cool guy too, because he talked to me for a bit about
Tezuka films. I bought a full tezuka art book from him because it was a really nice $15
price.
by this time C-chan was all ready to get a room as Johns was full to the brim now.It was
split up between C-chan, Kristy, Mike, Norm and I. while waiting in line I got to see the
most amazing person at the convention all weekend, and I still rue it to this day that I
didnt persist him. it may seem totally bogus but I kid you no; Stone Cold Steve Austin was
directly behind me. I must have turned around about 4 different times before I finally
convinced myself "it must be lack of sleep. theres no way a WWF star is going to an
anime convention". less than 10 minuites after getting our hotel room everyone had
been going crazy about these sightings. not only Stone Cold, but the Undertaker,
Chrtistian, and several other big big name wrestlers were also in the building. Cory was
the most exited as he totally picked me up and spun me around saying how exited he was
about all of the famous wrestlers being there. the reaction was amazing how the two fan
bases of wrestling and anime go together. must be all the fighting anime that gets the
intrest? once in the hall chuck actually said hi to Christian and Mark (undetaker real
name) as they passed by us. the referee following them told chuck "From now on don't
call them by their real names". Lamer! thats not his real name. I dont even think the
guy was an official ref either as I saw him as a bartender later that weekend making a 12'
Shrimp and Garlic pizza. well that pretty much scared us from asking for photos and
autographs from the wrestlers for the rest of the evening. sides; itd be kinda rude to
barge up at their hotel asking for wrestling business when theyre just trying to relax.
Roast- tickets for the con;$35, tickets for the Steve Bennet Roast $35. hrm.... I paid for
a ticket when I registered but I hadnt actually gotten my official ticket. since I needed
the money for the wwf event I had gotten a refund. from what I had found out most people
couldnt afford the roast. call it "Broke Con 01" but most people at
this convention were stripped for cash and were lucky enough they could even attend. so
the roast wasnt as popular as I had guessed. if I had known more people I would have
attended but since I myself, had no other way to get money for the weekend, that $35 was
money I had to make last for 3 days. inside jokes I heard were that mainly the Plushie
Penis which was given as a gag gift and that one of the main speakers was laying out some
pretty lame jokes so steve had to throw in his own humor to spice things up.
fast forward to Friday evening. the wrestling crowd was all going to leave for a big big
wrestling event downtown which suprizingly hadnt sold out yet. it was $45 for front row
tickets which I had wanted to go to but since the atm wouldnt take my card I was just a
little bit short on cash to go. oh well. we ordered a pizza for everyone that night and
for some reason ordering pizza had become the biggest chore. pay phones had listings of
well over 20 different locations for papa johns so I ended up calling about 4 until I got
the closest number. then when I did they only asked for a last name. the guy arrived
looking for some person in room 711 with a weird name like Domaramuramu but he ended up in
the lobby where we claimed it was ours then finally got it. by that time everyone who had
chipped in (and the people who said they would pay) had either left for wwf or something
else. so we ended up taking most of the pizzas up to our room to eat and randomly finding
other people wanted the pizza too.
Friday night was the best! Jenny and Leo had airbrushed costumes so they wanted to shower
and go down to the pool so I got to go too! the jacuzzi had semi-working jets but they
mysteriously broke after one use (ok ok! I somehow twisted them backwards so they quit
working =P) then after some pool fights we went out to the Sauna to dry off (where were
the hotel towels?!?).
Open mike was totally random! there was karaoke, skits, and just crazy yelling all over.
john was hsting it full of energy after a day of R&R (no not DDR, he was totally worn
from lack of sleep before the con). someone actually paid him money to strip and then
Cookie quickly handed him his credit card to NOT strip. Mary got a group together for
singing the Baka song which was cool. then Mike had convinced them to play Limbo which
sadly enough mike and Kristy didnt show up for.
for some reason ordering pizza for the second time was wayyyy easier than the first. The
lady at the front desk called out to the local pizza place for us and rang the room when
they answered. then they called us saying that the pizza guy would arrive 10 minuites
later. how cool is that?! we had a crazy ddr/pizza/wrestling party that night with Norm
(Dan!), the canadian, ollie,Leo and jenny.madcap fun ensued!~ Leo, jenny and I aimlessly
wandered the hotel all night not really looking for anyone or anything; just trying to
keep awake all night.
C-Chan and I were the first to leave the room that morning. her in the ChronoCross Kid
& FF9 Garnet costume and me in the DDR3rdMix rage. Norm/Dan brought his Dreamcast with
several games, so i got my chance to play SambaDeAmigo. no maraccas though...maybe next
con.
Cosplay was a bit confusing since I was sorta staff but in all it went over really well. I
had been kinda snagged into staff. since I knew both John and C-chan they really had no
problem with me being there to help out. it was first started because the runner hadnt
shown up with refills of water for everyone so I just grabbed the pitchers and filled them
up at the fountains down the hall. then Wham! instant access to the behind-the-scenes
cosplay! they had gotten everyone to pre-register by that morning so the list was complete
with all the entries. they went out to the stage in groups of 5 people waiting at a time.
C-chan was in charge of saying when to up to stage next. they wanted everyone quiet while
the event was going on so mike and I showed a group of costumers the game Arist. its a
very very evil game and its even better if played in a large group.
Kevin Bolk who I was also really anxious to meet was there as well and his Ten costume
(from Urusei Yatsura) costume had to be the most hillarious idea for cosplay I had ever
seen. simular to his Char cosplay where he promoted old school anime and ranted about the
new-age fans this cosplay took the cake as far as humor. fr about 5 minuites he went on
about the funniest things about fans today. about how people think no matter how obscure
your costume is they ask "Is that DragonBallZ?" and he even had beer bottles in
his tiger bikini/diaper. everyone was laughing all through it and it won him an award.
Jenny and Leo (in their Galaxy Fraulen Yuna costumes) had a funny skit too where they
played off the joke that guys only liked the heroines because they had a large bust. Jenny
then took off her armour (Boob Humor -nothing showing) to show she had no bust! Leo busts
into laughter and walk off satisfyed that she was wrong. jenny then looks at the audience
with a kind of confused look of what she had just proved. you had to be there to really
get this.
Later that night they had planned a DDR Tournament but unfortunately the tryouts were
during cosplay so jenny and I missed our chance. we did get to get into costume and attend
which was cool because that got us great photos. the Fighting game tournaments went on for
awhile so she had time to get changed and still watch. we stayed to see John play against
the winner. it was pretty cool. After that we all got pumped for...the Dance~!
..but the dance wasnt...good. it didnt totally bite (see AWA6 Dance Review for that) but
the songs were more obscure and didnt have enough bass. it started well with Initial D
nonstop megemix but then simmered down to more unusual dance songs (Shin Chan?). I did get
to share my glowsticks which everyone wanted to try out the Glowstix-on-strings that Cchan
and I had made up. my attire looked really well with my glowsticks as I had the blue with
blue glow shindig going.
REVISED- the dance started off sooo well. i had the dance floor with my windmill and other
flashy BBoy moves, going at full speed (no pun intended) with Initial D songs. but it just
dyed out. i even got to rave out with Cybile! wowza!
I went to Kei & Blue's Reception party later that night, which was off-and-on
happening. the time and date had changed from day to day at the con but eventually settled
for "late Saturday night". there was a good select crowd of people who went and
they were glad I had brought DDR because it was really funny for everyone to try the game
out, even if for their first time. no matter if they had never played or had only just
heard of the game that day they all seemed to like it.
Big Fire party was interesting. i tried twice to get in but it was so loud that nobody
really answered. i went back way into the night after Kei's party and they let some of us
in. it was like walking into a giant Pub! the smell of Vodka was everywhere. a more mature
crowd with half of the people passed out or just slurring random drunk lines. Poor Kat was
almost unconcious, but she got better by the end of night. Jill was here....nearly topless
getting Steve to draw some boob art. i was waearing her Tommy Blue glasses and she wanted
em back. i tried to convince her they went so well with my outfit and wanted to wear em
longer, but well...Steve wasn't getting a happy ironcat maiden so he was all
¬_¬"Mappy....give her the glasses". Pish, she got em...but i will find my own!
Jenny, Leo, Danny, Jinnai, and Ollie were on the VIP floor so i brought them some Mt Dew
and Strawberry cake from Keis party. they kinda sorta ate it, but somehow Jenny and Leo
began this giant cake war which ended up splattering the entire floor hall with it! pink
cake crumbs everywhere! we managed to scoot the furniture over it so no harm no foul,
right? ^_^;
Later that night after having mad wack fun with Kei's Strawberry cake, steve came up to
visit us and talk about the con and such. We talked and talked. past cons, previous cons,
con slugs, fanboys, cosplay... it was great! we all got to know each other better (Steve
spakun si Deutch! Ya!) but after awhile Steve got sleepy and nodded off. we alllllmost got
a chance to get a pic of all of us with him sleeping. it woulda rocked, but he woke up
just before we got our chance. dang! Around that time it was 5am and Jenny and Leo had to
go ;_;, so after they packed up (i still have no idea how they packed all that stuff in 15
min?!) we all went to sleep.
Wrapping it all up on the final day everyone eventually met up in the lobby. we all got to
say our goodbyes first to the people flying out. C-chan had to store her stuff in the
lobby but they eventually filled up! weak!
Danny and i had both gotten Hachi Roku (Eight-Six for you hardcore InitialD fans)models
and i figured i wouldnt get this chance again so what else could we do to pass time but
RACE! I got out my $70 model and he got his $20 one. we had quick races, chicken matches,
and when that got boring we put a sombreo and Doughnut box on the model and drove it
around the lobby, making everyone jump out of th way for dear life, mwahahah! There is
going to be a True race at Katsucon...just wait! ^_^
Overall i was indeed happy with the turnout of the con. Cosplay went perfectly (dispite
what you might have read or heard from Cosp). Met lotsa people, price was nice, and got
lotsa cool pictures. Dealers room needed....more. there just wasnt enough for a starving
fan to eat up. Next year theres talk of getting one of the TwoMix girls to come. I thought
it was really impressive they got THREE Japanese guests this year, and they all actually
came too! Timing was real nice on the con. no busy traffic or holidays. Snow wasnt that
bad that it prevented travel, just kinda made it cold. location right by the airport made
it great for poeple who were flying to easily get there. They played FLCL and DigiCharat
so i was pretty happy with the video selection, just wish they had more fansubs than raw
Japanese playing.
I will return next year! its not a big deal to attend because my relatives live in Akron
so it shouldnt be a problem next year. I really hope they can get the guests theyre
planning because it would just totally complete this con for next year! 2 more weeks until
Katsu... i must prepare the photos quickly ^_^. Laterz~
"Dry humping?!" Dommi & one of the Lefferts twins
"Let me show you some Juditsu...this might look just Wrong, but its a cool
move" ~Mike
"Norm...would it be Norm-AL?" WeiB
"Hodeoten doten day hodioten day-o...waiting on Steve Bennett!" Kevin
& WeiB
(the SNL celeb jeopory skit...[i'm not typing it up...just ask him about it!]) Mike
"Oh! We're just here for the water!" Dan (when asked what we needed in
mid-ironcat panel)
"PLAY CAPTAIN JAAAACK!" Dan
"$2,000 Canadian dollars for Yaoi Cat Boy!" "Wait, Who lowered it
down to $500 yen?"
"Tamahome, Tasuki...theyre both faggots anyway" Steve
"Strawberry cake fight!"
"Whoppatie Doopitie, Whoppatie Doopitie..." -Jenny's opening quote for
cheap immitations. dont ask =P
"4,3,2,1...No more sleep in Tokyo!" ~Danny while racing our RC Initial
D models
"Keep it dooooooown!" Canadian mocking WWF stars interrupting our DDR
room party
=Danny's lemon-poetry=
"Oh Youji...with you i would have an Orgiii"
"Oh Heero Yui, with you it would be all gooooey!"
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